purchased this for duck hunting presque isle and on lake erie, im in search of a layout boat now. Very excited about the amount room and how deep the boat is. Its a 16ft aluminum starcraft with a 60hp mariner. Had it out perch fishing shes a tank through waves. gonna redo the interior next year and the floor. Cant wait for the season to start!!

Nice! That's a similar set up to my 14ft Starcraft, except mines been converted to a tiller. Do you have any foam for flotation under the floor? I've been thinking of shooting a few cans of expanding foam under my floor.

The first boat I had was a 14footer like yours. The wide edge along the top is great for mounting a custom made blind. I coated the whole bottom of mine with some stuff called "Gluv-it" to seal the rivets. I redid the floor and put new floatation under it and then mounted pedestal seats. I gave the boat a custom Max4 HD homemade paint job. Turned out real nice! Sold it for a bigger boat. I've since seen those in 18ft and I believe in a 20 ft length as well. They are real light boats and draft very little. Great for pulling into the shallows.

i ended up paying $2200 for it, I would like to raise that consol up a little higher.. Im 6'3" so its a bit short at times. i would also like to build a blind for it im just not sure what i want yet... My BIGGEST issue is that it is not a power tilt/trim motor.. and it seems like its pretty expensive to get it, i looked on ebay for something but i dont even know what to look for really.... Other than the trim/tilt im very happy with the boat and the price!

Erie is not a lake to be messed with.....until you get foam in that boat make sure you go hunting with another boat.....you are twice as likley to swamp a 16 footer as a 20 footer......do somethign to stack more odds of not dying in your favor....unless your lake Erie is some small sheltered cove!!!

good luck , starcrafts are good boats. i have three now, 18.5', 21 '. and a monster deep and wide 22 footer

I appreciate the concern Tool, Not too sure where your from or where you hunt but I have been hunting lake Erie (near shore main lake) all around Presque isle including the bay for many many years and I have never been in anything even close to dangerous situations, and we have been using a friends 16ft smoker craft for as long as i have hunted. You would really have too be in some stupid weather and waves to swamp that boat... I dont plan on ever putting myself in that situation.... I have grown up on that lake since i was a youngster, I'm very in tune with lake Erie and what she is capable of. If you are familiar with the area, Very rarely does anyone hunt around the point of the peninsula... No reason to the birds are all over the PI.

I have neve rboated Lake Erie, but I have been on Ontario. the conditions that make Ontario dangerous at times are probably present on lake erie just as often. With predominant NW winds, the lake has miles of water to build waves that crash on the American side....but like I said, many times there are coves and bays that offer plenty of protection.....enjoy and good luck....get some foam in that boat!!

I actually took another look and there is foam under the floor, as far as conditions go i have never been in more than 2 footers. if you look on google earth you can see how the peninsula keeps it protected from a most wind diections. when its very rough out on the lake its perfect where we are.

psuduckhunter33 wrote:I actually took another look and there is foam under the floor, as far as conditions go i have never been in more than 2 footers. if you look on google earth you can see how the peninsula keeps it protected from a most wind diections. when its very rough out on the lake its perfect where we are.

do you launch from the East Ave ramp???

or is there a ramp at the state park for launching into the bay???

the Bay is certainly protected...... in any case you probably are fine even outside the bay under the penninsula....worst case scenario, the coast guard is close enough ........BILGE PUMP-S